The future for regeneration?
To “kick-start a sustainable transformation of the North West of England”, the Evergreen consortium has been selected by the European Investment Bank to set up a major regional regeneration fund, in a move combining public and private funding that could total £350m for projects in Greater Manchester and the wider North West region.
Evergreen is led by Manchester City Council, CB Richard Ellis, and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) and is supported by local authorities in Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire. Work is now underway to make the fund operational from early 2011.
The fund will start off with £20m of public money from Europe plus a further £10m from the North West Regional Development Agency. “This will unlock a further £30m of public-sector match funding and could see a total fund in excess of £300m – including investment from both the Greater Manchester and Lancashire Pension Funds – levered into regeneration projects in the North West over the next 10 years,” said CBRE.
The fund will provide loan finance to projects on strategic sites in the region that “will make a significant contribution to the success of the North West’s economy and create jobs.” Money from these projects will be recycled back into the fund to support further projects. In future it is hoped that the scope of the fund will expand to include financing for major low-carbon, housing and transport projects, CBRE noted.
Sarah Whitney, head of Government and Infrastructure at CBRE, said: “The Evergreen Fund will be a highly innovative fund, combining a small amount of public sector funding with substantial private sector investment, and delivering a series of strategic regeneration and development projects across Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Cheshire and Lancashire.”
“The consortium’s proposals are the result of a uniquely collaborative approach which has meant that more than 40 expressions of support were received prior to the submission of the proposals to the EIB, from local authorities, developers and other public-sector bodies, many of which will be beneficiaries of the funding that Evergreen secures. This level of support, which is unparalleled in any other form of local authority investment vehicle, should ensure that the Fund has the best possible start in life.”
